He is a musician with a difference. Every aspect of his life mirrors a distinctive persona. We have come across musicians who have attained spiritual heights through singing; there are others who have left behind a legacy in the form of disciples who still carry forward their brand of music; while some who have earned name and fame as performers/teachers/composers/researchers. But have we heard of a musician who was initially way away from music as such and then one fine morning decided to pursue it as a passion and finally give back to his native soil the glory it revelled in ages ago?. And how did he give it back? By being the architect of a magnificent landmark that has carved a niche in the history of his hamlet. And if you are wondering who this incomparable person is — well it is R.K. Padmanabha, from Rudrapatna in Karnataka, an abode of Carnatic music.
Today, Padmanabha stands tall with innumerable pupils, a customized plan of action dedicated to the cause of reviving traditional music that is losing its charm in our corporate culture and monuments, to proclaim his relentless efforts. “This is a never-ending quest and when I list my achievements, let it not be misconstrued as blowing my own trumpet. I want many others to take to this path and enlighten our coming generations not to jettison our timeless cultural heritage called music for something frivolous and temporal. That's one of the reasons why you find a lot of women in my goshti gayanams being conducted at temples and other places in Bangalore city. When a woman is music-literate, she can transform the entire family and extended family by dispersing her song and creating an interest in music,” he is emphatic. The maestro has held 500 camps of group learning and singing. He still goes to extensions of the city to conduct goshti gayanam and holds free camps to teach Navavaranam classes. “My teaching is theme-oriented: for instance, from the month of November to December, it has to be Dikshitar's kritis which culminate with a ‘Dikshitar day', commemorating with a full-length kutcheri. The camp has nearly 100 participants every time,” he explains.
He allows us a glimpse ofhis earlier life as he reminiscences, “I was born and brought up till my 10th grade at my native Rudrapatna. Ours was a purohit parampara , not musical. My father was Krishna Dikshitar. So naturally, I was not seriously inclined towards music and having graduated in sciences, I joined the State Bank of India in 1973. Somewhere, in my banking career, the music bug bit me when I heard Semmangudi and Voleti and I joined the Vijaya College of Music in 1974. Since music was in my sinews, I instantly took to it. H.V. Krishnamurthy was my professor and for a short while, I had trained under Seetharama Sastri and Nanjundu Sastri too. My performances landed me with a ‘B' high grade with the AIR. So, I managed both professions till my superannuation.”
If you are ordained to do greater things, obviously, life's comforts or still more, luxuries are no stoppers. “Looking back at my village which had produced so many musical sons of the soil and Veda pandits upasana , I felt sad. My mind conjured up a magnificient monument that would etch itself on the global scenario of classical music. I began mobilizing funds and not before long, the ‘Saptaswara dhyana mandir' took shape in 2008 as a ‘tambura'at Rudrapatnam. It had to be unique and all of us should one day congregate there and celebrate every year. This was my dream and now it has come true.”
mandir “The entire structure stands on the sapta concept. It has seven steps, at an imposing 70 feet and has seven corners to it. Each compartment has seven deities, seven stars and musical instruments. A ritual called puja is also conducted with musical mantras penned by me. The aarathi is by tanam; naivedyam by pallavi. Archana contains Sennappa Nayaka, Purandhara dasa namavali. Surrender to saptaswara is our way of worship,” he explains at length. Not to talk of aesthetic value with a 13,000 sq. ft lawn with fountains! The cost, a whopping Rs 1.10 crore!
He conducts an annual music festival ‘Sangeetha sammelanam' and ‘Gana Sharardham' on Bahula Pachami in memory of Thyagaraja at Rudrapatna. This apart, the ‘Vadiraja kala mandir' in Bangalore (HuliMavu) stands as an exemplar of the maestro's dedication to music. “A guru is not just a teacher; he should be spiritually exalted enough to transform his disciples,” he concludes.
